And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
And they wrote letters by them. This is the earliest mention of writing as an element in the development of Christianity; for though it occurs in John 20:30-31; John 21:24-25, that Gospel was not published until long after this book. And the combination here of written and oral transmission of an important decision reminds us of the first occasion of writing mentioned in the Old Testament, where a similar combination occurs (Exodus 17:14). Only whereas there it is the deep difference between Israel and the Gentiles which is proclaimed, here (as Baumgarten excellently remarks) it is the obliteration of that difference through faith in the Lord Jesus.
After this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren. The true reading of this clause is of some consequence, from its bearing on the question, whether "the brethren" - the Christian people at large-had any voice in this assembly along with "the apostles and elders." The one reading is, 'The apostles and the elders, brethren.' This is the reading of the five chief manuscripts of the New Testament 'Aleph (') A B C D), of the Vulgate, and of one or two other (though inferior) versions, and even of Irenoeus (in the Latin). Accordingly, it is adopted by Lachmann, and approved by Neander and Alford. But the received reading is supported by most of the other Uncial manuscripts, by both the Syriac and other ancient versions, and by Chrysostom, Theophylact and other fathers, who might be expected to prefer the other reading. There is therefore a fair case for calling in internal evidence; and believing (with Meyer, DeWette, and Lechler) that it is far more probable that the received reading should be rejected, as favouring the cooperation of "the brethren" with "the apostles and elders," and that that reading would be preferred which represented "the apostles and elders" as themselves "the brethren" who wrote the letter-we hesitate not (with Tischendorf) to prefer the received reading. Besides, it seems to us that the word "brethren" is not a very natural addition to "the apostles and elders," by way of describing them, and certainly is unusual. And if we are correct in supposing that "the whole church" (mentioned in the previous verse) were permitted to give a positive assent to the decision of "the apostles and elders," what more natural than that the Letter which all thus resolved to send should run in the name of all the parties?
[Send] greeting. As this word х chairein (G5463)] - so familiar in Greek letters-occurs only in one other place of the New Testament (if we except the letter of the Greek general, Claudius Lysias, Acts 23:26), namely, in the Epistle of this same James (James 1:1), it seems to show that both Letters were drawn up by one hand-that of James-and thus to authenticate the document here given (as Bengel acutely observes).
Unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia - showing that Christian communities existed not only in Syria but in Cilicia, which owed their existence in all likelihood to the labours of the great apostle, in the interval between his flight to Tarsus from Jerusalem (Acts 9:29-30) and his departure in company with Barnabas for Antioch (see the notes at Acts 11:25-26).